GRAHAM Drury refused to criticise his Birmingham side after seeing them slip to a rare home defeat last night.

The Perry Barr outfit were outclassed by Edinburgh on a night where anxious fans rallied behind the club.

King’s Lynn were confirmed as Premier League champions thanks to the result – but for the BRC Roofing Brummies a bigger battle lay ahead today when the future of the sport at Perry Barr was due to be decided by the council’s planning committee.

Boss Drury said: “My riders have been magnificent throughout the Premier League programme and perhaps this was one meeting too far for us.

“Fair play to Edinburgh, who were excellent, and I congratulate them for that, but it was disappointing for us to lose.

“The bigger and more important battle must now be won off the track and it’s out of our hands – all we can do is hope the club is allowed to continue.

“Tony Mole (club owner) has confirmed rejection of planning will mean we will have no option but to pull out of the league for next season.”

Brummies appeared collectively off-colour, not helped by a controversial disqualification for Jay Herne in Heat 2 when he was adjudged to have caused Byron Bekker to fall.

Lee Smart and skipper Jason Lyons both took heavy knocks but continued riding, and in a match which lacked 5-1s, Edinburgh made the crucial breakthrough thanks to Kevin Wolbert and flying reserve Aaron Summers in Heat 12.

That left the home side with too much to do, Summers wrapping up the Monarchs’ win on the night in Heat 14, and the visitors went on to take maximum points from the match thanks to a mechanical failure for Tomasz Piszcz in Heat 15, which rather summed up the Brummies’ night.